The value of Individual Liberty affirms each person’s right to self-determination, but the values of Democracy, Respect and Tolerance call us to live as part of a community. This assembly encourages pupils to consider what they can choose to do with their lives that will make a difference for the common good.

OPENING ACTIVITY

Get inspired (something to think about)

Give one or more real life examples of children who have made a difference. You could use famous or little known individuals, they could be historical or contemporary.

To demonstrate the fact that our actions affect other people – that they can even affect people on the other side of the world – invite the children to set up rows of dominoes in small groups. The whole group can watch as each group taps its first domino, cascading the whole row one by one. You could create this as a whole class, making a giant row to topple.

FILM CLIP

Play the clip from Maleficent (Disney, 2014, certificate PG).

Start time: 00:02:05 (in chapter 1 of the DVD)

End time: 00:05:10

Clip length: 3 minutes and 5 seconds

The clip starts when Maleficent flies off the tree, after the narrator says, ‘And her name was Maleficent.’ It ends after Maleficent throws the jewel back into the pool.

If you are unable to play the clip, say ‘Maleficent can fly, but she does much more than that. As she flies around the forest, she is polite to everyone she meets, and playful too. When she hears that a boy has stolen a jewel from the forest, she bravely flies over to meet him. She tells him to give the jewel back, and when he does, she returns it to the bottom of the pool.

We live in a great big world, full of people and things, full of beauty and goodness, full of pain and problems. We are all part of this world, but it’s easy to think that we’re not an important part. Can we really make a difference?

[PowerPoint slide 2]

A famous scientist named Jane Goodall, who is an expert on the environment, says, ‘You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.’

The way we work, what we eat, how we travel, who we play with, what we say – everything we do makes a difference to our planet or to other peoples’ lives, or both. Whether we realise it or not, we make a difference to the world around us every single day.

[PowerPoint slide 3]

What sort of difference do you want to make? How do you treat the world? How do you treat other people? Let’s take a look at how some magical creatures are making a difference in their world.

We’re going to watch a film clip from Maleficent. It’s all about a young fairy, who lives in a magical forest, full of strange and wonderful creatures. Let’s find out how she and her friends change their world.

Play the clip from Maleficent:

Start time: 00:02:05 (in chapter 1 of the DVD)

End time: 00:05:10

Clip length: 3 minutes and 5 seconds

The clip starts when Maleficent flies off the tree, after the narrator says, ‘And her name was Maleficent.’ It ends after Maleficent throws the jewel back into the pool.

If you are unable to play the clip, say ‘Maleficent can fly, but she does much more than that. As she flies around the forest, she is polite to everyone she meets, and playful too. When she hears that a boy has stolen a jewel from the forest, she bravely flies over to meet him. She tells him to give the jewel back, and when he does, she returns it to the bottom of the pool.

What is Maleficent like? [Take suggestions – fairy, flies, polite, kind, helpful, brave, fair.] How does she change the world she lives in? [Take suggestions – she’s nice to all the other creatures, she protects the pool jewels.]

[PowerPoint slide 4]

Maleficent makes the magical forest a more fun, friendly and fair place to live in.

[click] We also saw those three pixies, Knotgrass, Flittle and Thistlewit. They were making a difference in the world too, but it wasn’t a good difference. They argued over something as silly as who told Maleficent the news about the boy. The problem could have been sorted out much more quickly if they had gone straight to Maleficent and one of them had told her the news straight away.

[click] What about the boy, Stefan? What sort of difference was he making to the world? [Take suggestions, if offered – he was rude, he stole.] Stefan was rude to the border guards, he stole a jewel and he lied about it to Maleficent.

[click] Imagine what the magical forest would be like if everybody acted like Stefan. [click] Imagine what it would be like if everybody acted like the pixies. But, what about our world? What can we do to treat our world and the people who live in it well, like Maleficent does?

[PowerPoint slide 5]

The Bible says that God has made the world and all of us, and he wants us to live the best possible life we can! Let’s read a verse from the Bible that gives us God’s top tips on how to make a difference.

‘But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don’t take yourself too seriously — take God seriously.’ Micah 6:8 The Message.

God tells us to do what is fair and just, to be caring and loyal, and to focus on how great God is rather than on how good we are. Living this way, we can make our world a more fun, friendly and fair place to live in.

Let’s get practical, and think about some small things we can do to make a big difference. [Invite the children to suggest ideas and write them up under four categories: at home, at school, nearby and far away.] You’ve got lots of brilliant ideas – well done! Here are some more for you to think about.

[PowerPoint slide 6]

At home, we can make a huge difference by being happy and helpful. It’s easy to moan about things, but what if we helped to fix problems, rather than just complaining about them? You could surprise someone by making them a birthday present or helping set up for dinner time without being asked.

We can also make a big difference by using less of some things. Instead of wasting lots of food, water and energy, we could recycle, compost, perhaps even grow some of our own food.

[PowerPoint slide 7]

At school, we can make a big difference in other people’s lives by respecting each other. We can learn a lot from our different families and backgrounds. In the playground, you could teach someone a game they’ve never played before and ask them to teach you a new game too. If you want people to treat you nicely, then you need to be an example and treat them that way too.

[PowerPoint slide 8]

Nearby, we can make someone’s day simply by smiling at them – you can even smile at strangers! You can make your local park a better place to play in by picking up litter and by helping to make it friendlier. You could volunteer to help with a local charity. You could ask your parents to buy your new clothes and toys at nearby shops or charity shops.

[PowerPoint slide 9]

Far away, you can make a difference too. You can give toys or pocket money to charities. You can write to the government, asking them to change things that you think are unfair. You can buy things only from shops that treat people and animals kindly. The most important thing here is to find out what is happening around the world, so that you know how best to help. Try reading the news using First News or Newsround. Talk to your parents, teachers and friends about the issues affecting your home, school, town, country and the rest of the world. Together, we can come up with new ideas of how to help.

Each of us is an important part of this world. We all make a difference to it and its people every single day. What sort of difference will you make today?

Headings and Bullets

Our place in the world [PowerPoint slide 1-2]

We live in a great big world.

It’s easy to think we’re not an important part of it.

Can we really make a difference?

‘You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.’ (Jane Goodall)

We make a difference every day [PowerPoint slide 3]

Everything we do makes a difference.

What sort of difference do you want to make?

How do you treat the world? How do you treat other people?

Introduce the film clip:

Play the clip from Maleficent:

Making a difference in the magical forest [PowerPoint slide 4]

Maleficent makes the magical forest a more fun, friendly and fair place.

[click] The three pixies make a difference in the world too, but not a good difference – they argue over silly things.

[click] What sort of difference was Stefan making to the world? Stefan was rude, he stole and he lied.

[click] Imagine what the magical forest would be like if everybody acted like Stefan.

[click] Imagine what it would be like if everybody acted like the pixies.

But, what about our world? What can we do to treat our world and other people well, like Maleficent does?

[PowerPoint slide 5]

The Bible says that God has made the world and all of us, and he wants us to live the best possible life we can!

Here are God’s top tips on how to make a difference. ‘But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don’t take yourself too seriously — take God seriously.’ (Micah 6:8).

God tells us to do what is fair, to be caring, and to focus on how great God is rather than on how good we are.

Living this way, we can make our world a more fun, friendly and fair place.

Putting it into practice [PowerPoint slide 6-9]

[Invite the children to suggest ways that we can make a difference and write them up under four categories: at home, at school, nearby and far away.]

Ideas for making a difference at home.

Ideas for making a difference at school.

Ideas for making a difference nearby.

Ideas for making a difference far away.

Each of us is an important part of this world, and makes a difference to it and its people every single day.

What sort of difference will you make today?

RESPOND

Reflection

Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world.’ Close your eyes and think for a moment about something bad in the world. It could be bullying or stealing or poverty. Now think about the change you want to see. Perhaps you want people to be kind to each other in the playground, or for people to share rather than snatching what isn’t theirs, or for people to be generous enough to give to people who have nothing. ‘Be the change you wish to see,’ says Gandhi. Why not try it this week? You can open your eyes now.

Prayer

Dear God, thank you for making us wonderful people and for giving us a wonderful world. Please help us to make a great difference in our world every day. Amen.